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Stoos Stampede – Session Proposals

With the Stoos Stampede in July we’re going to try something different.

This time there will not be a session selection by a program committee in an ivory tower, leafing through session proposals and judging which ones they like best.

Instead, we’re using IdeaScale to collect session proposals, and we will let participants decide which ones seem the most interesting. The only thing our program leaders will do is try and make sure that all proposed sessions are accepted. The only problem to solve is… which sessions will happen where?

Our main venue (De Rode Hoed) has a fixed number of rooms, and the organizers will decide on a fixed number of program slots. It should be just a matter of matching the popular sessions with the biggest rooms. The trick is to find the last responsible moment to do this.

What if we have more session proposals than program slots?

Well, that’s the easy part of the plan. This is exactly the reason why we selected a location in Amsterdam city center. There are plenty of bars, restaurants, coffee houses, offices, and meetings rooms within 5 minute walking distance from the main venue. What we need to do is send some scouts into the area and make a list of breakout locations where there’s a bit of room, free wi-fi, and a table.

The only thing that session leaders will have to accept is a bit of uncertainty. Will they end up with 50 people in the big room at De Rode Hoed? Or with 3 people at a table in the Bagels & Beans around the corner?

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It’s not open space because the sessions are proposed and discussed weeks before the event. And rooms are mapped according to popularity. In open space the sessions are proposed at the start of the event, and the rooms are first-come-first-served.
I don’t know the Bar Camp model.